Today was a KenpoX day for me and I love that workout so it flew by pretty quick. My glutes are hurtin pretty bad from Friday’s Legs and Back workout but I was still able to “Bring It” during today’s workout. I still may do a second workout today but have not made up my mind.

I have started to do something new. Even though my Clean Eating manifesto states that I will not count calories I have started to count calories. I did my Clean Eating for 3 rounds now (90 days) and I am going to deviate just a little by counting calories. I hit a plateu and was wondering if I was getting enough calories per day, or maybe even too many. So I created a free account at Spark People and started tracking my calories. I tried quite a few online calorie trackers and found Spark people to be very intuitive for me and easy to add and modify foods. So I found out that I am getting enough calories. And with my occasional splurges I may be getting to many. So I have started tracking them just to get a better idea of where I stand. I am trying to get my body fat to a pretty low level and have learned 2 things so far. Number one, it can not be done by exercise alone. And two, it can not be done just by exercising and eating clean. I have always know this, and quoted it often, but now I am starting to really realize how true it is. And by “it” I am talking about this… In order to lose weight you must burn more calories than you take in. That’s it. Bottom line. It’s that simple. So that’s my next step. I want to ensure that I am burning more than I take in.

And if that does not get the job done I’ll begin watching my ratio between carbs, proteins and fats.

If you want to check out my Spark People  “Spark Page” here it is… http://my.sparkpeople.com/Dugrhill

Till next time… Eat Clean, burn what you eat, and BRING IT!!!

I had a hard time getting out of bed this morning once again. But I did get out of bed and in time for one hour of P90X, Legs and Back. Not enough time for Ab RipperX so I did that after work before my 4.5 mile run.

I starting to wonder what’s going on with my sluggishness in the morning. At first I thought it was due to being off of my usual schedule for a week due to travel. But I have been back on track for a week now and should be getting enough sleep. I’m wondering if I am not eating enough calories. I think I am but since I am not measuring them I am not sure. I also feel as if I have plateaud with my weight again. This is Soooo CONFUSING!! Oh well, I am not going to stress about it too much. I’m sure it will all work out.

Till next time… bring It!!

Happy P90X Birthday to me!! Today marks one year of doing P90X/P90X Plus. It actually does not surprise me that I have made it a full year. When I started I had no intention of doing this for just 90 days. I was ready for a life changing and life-long program. And wow did I find it in P90X! I can honestly say that I feel better than I have at any other time in my life. And I’m hoping that it will only get better.

I just finished up my second workout of the day and I feel great. Once again I had a terrible time getting out of bed this morning and because of this I only had time for one hour of YogaX. I skipped my least favorite parts of this DVD. But it was still a tough workout. And as a matter of fact I almost quit 15 minutes into it. I was just so sluggish this morning. But I stuck with it and made it through an hour.

I can’t wait until next week because I’m hoping that I’ll be over the DOMS by then. I’m just so sore everyday.

My second workout of the day was a 4 mile run on the treadmill and it felt great.

Till next time.. Eat Clean and Bring It!

Yesterday was Day 9, PlyoX and it kicked my butt as it always has. After work I ran 3.6 miles on the treadmill.

Today, Day 10, was off to a slow start. I had a hard time waking up and by the time I got rolling I only had time for Shoulders and Arms and had to skip Ab Ripper X (ABX). I’ll do the ABX and a run after work.

I am pretty sore today, partially from Monday’s Chest and Back workout and partially from Plyo. I was very stiff this morning but still had a great workout. One thing that I’ll have to watch is my right rotator cuff. It feels a bit tweaked this morning, I’ll baby it a little and see if it goes away.

Till next time… Bring It! 

I was a bad, bad boy. Week two of this round was a total wash and I am going to repeat it. I ate very poorly over the past 7 days, not my usual Clean Eating. I did run 4 out of the past 7 days bust missed 5 out of 6 P90X workouts. I could come up with excuses such as “I was traveling and the hotel gym was lousy” or “I was away on business and found it hard to find time to workout” but in the end those are just lame excuses.

The one high point of last week was that I was able to run outside on Thursday of last week. I was in Jacksonville, FL and on the last day it was warm enough for a nice run outside. I ran a bit over 4 miles and it felt terrific! It has been months since I had been able to run outside.

So that’s the re-cap of last week. Too much drink and bad food and not enough exercise. But I am back on track today and starting another 30 days of Clean Eating.

So this week will be a repeat of P90X week 2 and then I will press on.

Today’s workout was great! I did Chest, Back and ABX after work. I always have a bit of extra energy when I workout in the afternoon. It’s just too dangerous to leave the workouts until after work, things come up and get in the way too often.

Till next time… Eat Clean and Bring It!!

Today was a well deserved “Take care of Doug day.” I started it off by sleeping in, I’m off today due to MLK day. Then my usual breakfast of oatmeal, walnuts, raisins, rice milk and honey. Mmmmm. A couple hours after breakfast I did today’s P90X Chest, Back and ABX workout. I had my Recovery Drink and then I thoroughly clean my basement workout area. Everything from the mirror to getting on my hands and knees and washing my rubber flooring and then I even washed my yoga mat.

Then an apple as a snack. Shortly after that I ran a tad bit over 4 miles on the treadmill followed by a nice tuna salad. Then a very long hot shower.

And now I’m getting ready to head out for a massage. It’s been awhile since I have had one and I figured that with all these double workouts that I could really use one right now.

All in all it has been a great day.

Till next time… Bring It!

Today was a scheduled rest day but I have a hard time resting. So I shoveled snow for an hour and then ran for about 4 miles on the treadmill.

I’ve been shoveling snow everyday for a good five days now. I enjoy the exercise but COME ON!!! 5 days in a row?!?!? Enough snow!

Till next time… Bring It!!

Day 5 was Legs/Back and Ab RipperX (ABX) and I had forgotten what a killer workout Legs and Back was. I got a late start and was unable to squeeze in ABX in the morning so I did it after work and then did 5 miles on the treadmill. After 30 minutes of snow shoveling of course. Shoveling is getting to be a daily routine. I even consider it exercise and have been logging it as such ever since last year.

Day 6 was KenpoX. Man was I sore today. I could barely get out of bed because my legs and glutes were hurtin from the Day 5 Legs and Back routine. I managed to get through KenpoX just fine and decided that it and the 30 minutes of shoveling that I did today were enough of a workout.

I’m still doing great with eating clean and I’m on day 17 of my 3rd 30 day rotation. (in other words 77 days so far)

Till next time… Bring It!!

Today was YogaX. My back issue is still bothering me a bit and I had to take it easy during some moves and skip some all together. When I started this workout this morning I thought for a few minutes that I may have to scratch the workout for the day because of my back. But I kept going and my back felt better and better as the workout progressed.

Later in the day my wife gave me a quick massage and then put some Icy-Hot on it. It feels much better now.

After work I shoveled snow for a couple hours and then ran 5 miles.

I am starting to feel like I’m getting tendonitis in my right elbow. Too much shoveling?

Till next time… Bring It!!

Still fighting major DOMS today. Also fighting flu symptoms. I laid in bed for a while this morning and tried talking myself out of getting up and working out.  Luckily I did not succeed and I got up and worked out. When I was up and moving around I realized that I felt better than I had thought. I didn't get moving in time to do today’s Ab RipperX following Shoulder’s and Arms. I had just enough time for shoulders and arms. I’ll do ABX after work before I get a treadmill run in. That is.. after I shovel a bit.

Oh, before I forget, I did have something strange happen during today’s workout.  3/4 of the way through I got a huge knot in my back. It was on the right hand side about 1/2 way down my back and it HURT! I almost went upstairs to wake my wife up to have her massage it. I stopped the DVD and stretched and it got a little better. Good enough to finish the workout.

My wife did massage it for me later in the day but as of this writing I still feel it quite a bit.

Till next time… Bring it!!

PlyoX was a bit more than I could handle today. I’m sure that there are a few factors that were affecting my performance this morning and they resulted in me have to stop short on a couple of the plyo moves today. For one, I have only had just under 6 hours of sleep each of the past two nights. Two, I feel like I have a cold or flu. And three, I have serious DMOS today from yesterday’s Chest and Back workout. So needless to say it was a rough workout.

This cold/flu thing is what is zapping my energy the most. It seems like I get sick every couple of weeks. Must be my kids bringing this stuff home from school. The good news is that I usually kick the stuff in a couple days.

Because I feel like crap, and it’s my wife’s birthday, I decided not to do a second workout today. I shoveled for about 15 minutes tough.

Till next time… Bring It!!

Wow.. I had forgotten what a fantastic workout P90X was. Not that P90X Plus was not a great workout, because it is, but they are two very different workouts in my opinion. P90X Plus concentrates on more reps and more cardio and is great for leaning out. I find that I put on more bulk during P90X Classic.

Anyway, I did chest and back this morning and my biceps and chest have been wasted all day. What a great feeling. I was able to increase reps by at least 2 or 3 on every exercise. I guess P90X Plus did help to build strength too.

I am really looking forward to this round. I want to concentrate on going heavy.

Well, I’m off to do workout # 2 for the day, 4 miles on the treadmill.

Till next time… Eat Clean and Bring It!!

Well, that’s a wrap. Ninety days of P90X Plus under my belt. I really enjoyed P90X plus, it helped me lean out quite a bit and it was a great change of pace from good ole P90X. I really slacked off quite a bit in the last 5 days and missed a couple scheduled workouts, and did not stick to my Clean Eating very well in these past 5 days either. I blame it on traveling. I REALLY find it hard to stick to my diet when traveling. I can usually stick to my workouts pretty well but the diet is tough when traveling. Unfortunately I have some more traveling coming soon.

I am due to post some pictures soon, I guess that I’ve just been too lazy to take them and then post them. I guess I’m also a bit frustrated because I was on such an awesome role before I left on vacation. I don’t regret vacation because it was awesome as well, but because of vacation and then business travel I lost a bit of ground.

But, not to fear! I am excited about starting a new round of P90X tomorrow. I spent some time today printing out all of my workout and food tracker worksheets for this round and am psyched about starting it.

My goal for this round is to put on some bulk while leaning out a bit more. This is no easy task as many people say that those two things are contradictory. But I will try my best and go as heavy as possible with the weights while Eating Clean as much as possible.

So that’s it for this chapter of P90X Plus. Tomorrow will be P90X Round 4 Day 1.

Till next time… Bring It!!

Day 86 - I was scheduled for PlyoX today but the hotel that I am staying in does not have a workout room that is very accommodating for Plyo. Too small and too crowded. So insead I elected to do 4 miles on the treadmill. Later in the afternoon I did another 4 miles on the treadmill as a second workout. 

Day 87 - Today's workout was Total Body Plus. I started out with a 10 minute treadmill run as a warm-up. Then I attempted to do as much of the workout as possible but ran into trouble because the workout room did not have a pull-up bar and was too crowded to do the workout. So after doing some curls and presses I went back up to my room and finished the workout the best I could. It was a pretty light workout but a workout non-the-less. 

I hope to get a run in after our classes this evening as my second workout of the day. I have been eating pretty clean this trip and am happy about that and that I've been getting in two workouts a day. One thing that I'm not too happy about is not logging my workouts into the WOWY gym this week. The timing has just not worked out.

Till next time... Bring it!

I'm feeling a bit under the weather and because of this I felt a bit off during today's Upper Plus and Abs/Core Plus workout. But, it sure did feel good to be back at home and working out in my usual space.

Later in the day I flew to D.C. As soon as we landed I headed to the hotel fitness area and did 40:00 minutes on the treadmill. Felt great.

Tomorrow I think I'll try Plyo in my room. Either that of a run on the treadmill. I'll wait to see how I feel.

Till next time... bring It!!

Ugh. My first day back in the Midwest and I feel like I’m coming down with a cold. I have felt like crap and have been tired all day. I planned on doing yesterday’s missed Kenpo Cardio but did not feel up to it so I just ran a little over 3 miles on the treadmill.

I’m traveling again tomorrow so I hope that I feel better in the morning. I must try to stick to my clean eating better this week, I have not been eating very clean the past 5 days.

Till next time… bring It!

Day 82 was a great workout! I did the P90X Plus Upper Plus and then substituted Abs/Core Plus with Ab RipperX. I worked out in the hotel gym again and this was the first time I did P90X while listening to music on my MP3 Player and not the actual workout DVD. It was a very nice change of pace and the music motivated me more than the DVD audio does. I’ll have to try that more often. I’m bummed that I forgot to log into WOWY.com for this workout though. :o(

Day 83 was a total loss. I had to get up at 4AM to fly home and did not get home until 7PM. Too tired to workout when I walked in the door. I’ll do today’s Kenpo Cardio tomorrow, followed by a long run.

I got some great news when I arrived home tonight and checked my email. I have the BEST Beachbody Coach in the world! Coach Michelle is my Beachbody coach and she ran a contest last month for the people that she coaches. She was offering a tub of P90X recovery drink to the person who worked out in WOWY more than anyone else in December. Extra points were given if you brought someone new to the WOWY Gym with you. Guess what? I WON!! Woo Hoo! THANKS Michelle! I love that stuff!

If you’re looking for a Beachbody coach I can highly recommend Michelle. Check out her blog here… http://improvinglifetoday.com

Till next time… Bring It!!

Day 80 was Total Body Plus and despite not being able to follow my workout
on my Zune due to Z2k9
I was able to follow it with the P90X Plus worksheet that I brought along. The workout
was awesome as usual.

Later in the day I went for a 30 minute run along the ocean. Running in the
sand is very hard and awkward. It was an awesome workout.

Day 81 was New Year's Day 2009 and I was scheduled to do YogaX but took the
day off.

I have not stuck to my Clean Eating diet very well on vacation. I have been
pretty good but not great.

Till next time... bring It!!!